Catching Fireflies
by catchingfireflies
Summary: I never knew how horrific and beautiful the world can be. I met a boy who found me, I saw the man who would sacrifice everything, I watched a boy look into a shattered mirror, I saw girls afraid to walk at night. But most of all, I discovered the truth about love. [Gaara/OC]
1. Prologue

_I don't own Naruto (thankfully, I'd probably ruin it if I did). Story partially inspired by the movie _Grave of the Fireflies (1988)_, although it has nothing to do with the storyline_._ (Absolutely stunning movie though, if you're a fan of Studio Ghibli you should know it.)_

* * *

Prologue

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places." –Ernest Hemmingway

* * *

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a girl and her older brother. Their parents had died when the girl was young, but the two took care of themselves and loved each other unconditionally. With little money and food, the two struggled to make ends meet-but through hard work and determination, they grew prosperous and the once poor girl won the heart of a dashing young prince.

But in reality, there is no kingdom or happy ending. There's me, my brother, and the slums of Konoha. There is no innocence or winning of hearts or unconditional love. There is death, there is life, there are fireflies.

This is a story of a girl lost in a big bad world. This is the story of the boy that found her. This is the story of a man who would sacrifice everything for the one person he had left. This is the story of a boy with a cracked mirror. This is a story of girls who were afraid to walk at night.

Most of all, this is a story of the truth about love.

I used to see the world as fair, as equal, as forgiving. Now I see I've been sheltered from all the bad and evil-and yet, despite all of this, the world is a horrific _and_ beautiful place, because there are people, and that has made all the difference.

My name is Koyama Setsuko, and I was a girl lost in a big bad world.

* * *

**I know, I know, that was short. But it's just the prologue so rest assured, my other chapters will be **_**much **_**longer. What do you guys think of it so far? I'd really like to know! **

**Stay classy, world. Until next chapter.**

_Catchingfireflies, out!_


	2. Chapter 1

_I don't own Naruto (thankfully, I'd probably ruin it if I did). Story partially inspired by the movie _Grave of the Fireflies (1988)_, although it has nothing to do with the storyline_._ (Absolutely stunning movie though, if you're a fan of Studio Ghibli you should know it.)_

* * *

Chapter 1

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." –John F. Kennedy

* * *

The sounds of dogs barking and stray cats yowling wake me from my slumber. It's 7:30. Today is the first day of my first term of year ten. After three months of nothing but summer work, I welcome school with open arms.

But according to Seita, year ten is the most boring out of all of your high school years.

I don't want a boring year…

Oh well. It's not like it would have made much of a difference. I've never been one to socialize, so going to school was purely educational. Not to mention the fact that no one really bothers to talk or be friends with me anyways. It doesn't really bother me though. School is school. It doesn't matter if you have friends or not, but I'd be lying if I said I'd never wanted one.

"Setsuko!" Seita calls from downstairs. "I'm going to work. Breakfast is in the kitchen. Don't forget to lock up when you leave."

"Okay!" I shout back. The door opens. "See you tonight. Have a good day at school sis." There's a creak as the he opens the door wider. "Bye!" I holler, just in time for him to hear. The door rattles and shuts.

I lumber over to the bathroom in post-sleep induced drowsiness and splash my face in cold water to wake myself up. It works almost too well. I take my brush and pull it through the tangled black mass that is my hair, wincing every once in a while as the bristles snag a knot.

Since it's the first day of school, I suppose I should look halfway decent. On goes my nicer-than-normal tee, followed by my nicer-than-normal jeans. If you haven't noticed already, I don't exactly have "nice" clothes.

Breakfast consists of leftover rice and scrambled eggs. They're cold, but I'd rather not microwave it. Last time I tried using the microwave, it exploded and the landlord doubled our rent for the month. We ate half of our normal portions for a couple of weeks so we could pay for it.

The food still tastes good though. Despite our limited access to ingredients, Seita is a good cook. If we ever get the money, I think he should open up his own restaurant.

By the time I finish breakfast, it's 7:50. I sling my backpack over my shoulder, shove my feet in an old pair of Converse and head out the door. There's a heavy bolt I have to lock up the apartment with since the locks on the door barely function. Quite honestly, the whole building could fall over any minute. I'm often afraid of my own personal safety. (Does it even meet safety code?)

It's about a ten-minute walk to the subway. Konoha is a decently large city, and since it would take a bazillion busses to pick everyone up, I have to take the tube.

Seita and I live in the Nagasaki district. It's rather underdeveloped, but at least the rent is cheaper. Konoha High School, where I'm going, is on the other side of the city. The farther you go from Nagasaki and the closer you get to the other end, the nicer it looks.

The train station is crowded with morning commuters, and I, and with my full stature of five feet, must duck and dive through people to get the ticket booth. I only have ten yen on me, but the student tickets have a discounted price so I should be able to get a two-week pass with it.

Once I squeeze my way through the hoards of people (I swear, it's like they see right through me-can't they at least _try _and not stomp on little ten-years?), I make it to the platform just in time to catch the tube.

The ride takes about fifteen minutes, and from there it's a five-minute walk down sakura tree-lined roads and high class housing until you reach Konoha High School. It's a rather nice walk, I must admit, but the pollen from the trees always gets into my eyes and some of the people there look at me as if I'd crawled out of a sewer or something. And considering the fact that I live on the other side of town, I may as well have to them.

* * *

When I walk into the school, swaths of students stream past me through hallways trying to get to the meeting spots. I'm pretty sure the sophomores are meeting in the gym to get their schedules, but I'm going to ask just to make-

"Freshmen, meet in the cafeteria. Sophomores, meet in the small gym. Juniors and seniors, meet in the auditorium."

Well then.

Thank you, PA system and nasal-sounding secretary. Off to the small gym I go.

Konoha High School is quite large. No-scratch that-it's huge. The whole campus could easily be mistaken for a small university.

The walk to the gym is like trying to make your way through a stampede of rhinos shaped liked humans. You've got to first get out of the main building (while people trample you-can't they look _down_ and _see _me trying to get through?) and from there, you follow the humongous crowd of chatting and squealing ten-years (it appears that they don't see me either before they _step all over me_).

Yeah. I harbor bitter feelings about being stepped on. (Maybe it'll get better once I grow…_if_ I grow, that is.)

Tables are set up by last name in the gym. G-K is at the second table. Thankfully, it's the least crowded out of all of the tables unlike the T-Z line, although half of the people there are just girls staring at Uchiha Sasuke's butt. He _is _attractive, yes, but most of the time he looks like he's just eaten something extremely sour.

"Um, hello!" I snap out of my daze (I just realized I'd been staring at Sasuke) and look down at the table. An older, blue-haired girl looks at me with a smile. She's probably one of the seniors volunteering. "Last name please."

"Oh! U-uh, it's Koyama." She flips through a couple papers under "K" and asks, "Is it Setsuko?" I nod my head. Blue-haired-girl (I'm calling her that since I don't know her name) scans it over quickly. "2D _and _3D advanced, eh? Quite the art enthusiast we have here." She hands me my schedule. "See you in 2D and 3D then, Koyama." My face contorts into a slight blush and smile and confused-look combination. Blue-haired-girl laughs at my expression and shakes her head before greeting the next person in line.

I make my way to a secluded area under the bleachers and look at my schedule. It's not that bad, but it could use some improvement. I have algebra II first, humanities second and third, 2D advanced art, then lunch, honors chemistry, PE, and finally 3D advanced. I hate starting my day with math, but at least I have one of my art classes last. It gives me something to look forward to.

* * *

I decide to go ahead and walk to first period before the bell rings. I don't want to get run over by a mob of people. (Again.)

The bell goes off just as I reach the classroom. It's locked though. The teacher isn't there.

What kind of teacher is late for the first day of school?

My algebra teacher, apparently.

When he finally shows up, the class had been waiting for five minutes by the door. He greets us by saying "yo" and explains to us that he "got lost on the path of life" trying to get here. I didn't catch most of it though since I was too busy staring at his hair and mask. (How do those spikes stand up straight? How much gel does he use? Why I it grey? He seems no older than 35. And what's up with the mask? Is he sick? Maybe it's chronic ugliness…)

He lets us into the room and tells us to "sit wherever". The other students bunch together in groups. I take the desk in the corner.

There's a new kid this year, and he obviously doesn't know how the social ladder works since he's sitting next to me. He doesn't seem like one to talk, although, I do like his hair. It's red like a sunset and fluffy and soft looking.

The teacher introduces himself as Kakashi, passes out papers, and tells us to work. He doesn't bother taking attendance, just props his feet up on the desk and start to read some book called "Icha Icha Paradise" or something.

I think it's smut.

I don't talk for the rest of the period. I just do my work, doodle on the margins, and listen to Sakura and Ino gossip from the other side of the room. The new kid doesn't talk either, but I think he looked over at me every once in a while.

He'll probably be gone by tomorrow, making new friends and such. That girl Matsuri's had her eye on him already.

Redhead (my temporary name for him) is in my humanities class as well. Since Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei (we have two teachers, one for the English portion of the class and one for the history part) actually call roll, I know his name now (it's Gaara). He sat by me again, probably because I'm the only one he knows at this point.

Neither of us speak for the rest of class, but we do glance at each other at times. It's actually kind of comforting.

* * *

2D art time! Finally!

Anko-sensei teaches all of the art classes. I had her last year too. She can be kind of scary sometimes, but she has a soft spot for me.

According to her, I'm her "favorite little weirdo".

I'm the first to arrive in class and Anko-sensei nods and smiles towards me as I walk in. I sit at my usual table in the very back. It's by the big window. Since the art room is on the second floor you can see the entire campus from here, including the fountain in the middle where the ducks like to swim.

The advanced art classes are the smallest classes. There are usually no more than 15 people, so that means I could have a table to myself.

One by one, students slowly begin to file into class. Most of them are juniors or seniors, but there are a couple of sophomores too. Hinata (who was in my 2D regular art class last year) and her cousin Neji (a junior) walk in, followed by Sasuke (I'm pretty sure he's only here to get away from the girls), then Shikamaru, and some other people I don't know. Everyone sits at any of the tables except for mine. That's fine though. More paint for me, I guess.

Anko-sensei stands up to tell us what we'll be doing for our first project, but not before someone else walks into the room and hands her a pass.

"Sorry sensei. I was helping Tsunade-sama with the forms."

Wait-I recognize that voice. It's the blue-haired-girl from this morning. She scans the room with bright eyes and looks over to the back. Now she's walking over to my table.

Wait. What?

Why is she walking over here?

She's sitting at my table!

I'm so confused…

I must've had that same blush and smile and confused look combination from earlier because I see her stifling a laugh as she sits down. "Nice to see you too, Koyama," she says quietly.

Anko-sensei tells us this week will be a get-to-know-each-other-week. She gave us each a medium-sized canvas and told us to paint anything we want in any technique, and proceeds to let us loose.

"So," blue-haired-girl says as she dips her brush into some black paint. "How's it going?" I shrug. She chuckles. "Well, you're not the talkative type are you?" I shake my head.

This canvas is tormenting me. I have no idea what to paint.

"I'm Konan, by the way." I look up at her and she smiles back at me.

This is strange. I've never had someone-let alone a senior-willingly engage in a conversation with me for this long.

It's something new. And I think I like it.

I end up painting the sakura trees that line up along the road to school. It's nice, but for some reason it looks a lot darker than I had imagined it to be.

* * *

Lunch is always the best part of the day (although art is an extremely close second). There aren't any completely empty tables, so I just sit on the edge of a relatively quiet one.

Thank God Konoha High has a good cook. How would I live without my Tonkotsu ramen?

I love food.

I see Gaara a couple of tables down. He's sitting alone too. The thought of going up to him and saying hi entertains my mind for a little, but I decide against it.

There have been too many changes today anyways. Some things have to remain normal, and sitting alone at lunch is one of them.

* * *

PE was horrible. Nothing has changed.

Naruto (the blondest of the blondes in our grade, but extremely nice, not that I've experienced that firsthand) and Sasuke are still over competitive. The class still has to suffer because of it. Sasuke still wins. Gai-sensei and his protégé Lee still wear green spandex, much to everyone's disgust.

I still try and avoid getting trampled. And I still fail.

Fifty minutes later, with aching limbs from being trampled on I travel to chemistry.

The teacher greets me as I walk into the lab. He's holding a clipboard.

"Hello!" He sticks his hand out. "I'm Iruka. No "sensei", please. It makes me feel old." He smiles a genuine smile, the scar on his nose scrunching up slightly. I shake his hand slowly. "What's your name?"

"Um, Koyama Setsuko." Iruka glances down at the clipboard. "Seat seventeen, on the right." No! We have assigned seats. Darn it.

The lab is set up in rows of desks. Each desk seats two people. Apparently I'm sitting next to Yamanaka Ino. She really, _really_ loves to talk. Not to me, but to Shikamaru who sits in front of us. I can tell he's trying extremely hard to ignore her.

I've heard some pretty nasty things about Ino from some of the guys in our grade. But looking at her now, all I see is a talkative blonde with an infatuation with the color purple.

Oh well. Whatever she does is her business. I'll try not to judge her for it.

Gaara's in the same class, but he's on the other side of the room. I don't think he saw me.

We spent the period reviewing the periodic table. It was pretty boring.

* * *

I practically run to 3D. The boredom is too much for me to handle.

Just like before, I'm the first one in class. Anko-sensei greets me and I sit down at the back table by the window. The ducks are still splashing around in the fountain.

3D advanced has got to be the smallest class ever. There's about a minute left until the bell rings, and only three people are in class. (They're just some juniors that I don't know.)

At first, I think that's it until a familiar senior walks in, dragging two arguing boys in with her.

"No! That's not the point of art, un! Art is made to make you see in the moment." "Baka. Art is eternal." "Guys, just shut up."

Konan drags the bickering red-head (who looks suspiciously a lot like Gaara) and blonde to the table across from mine and sits down. It's weird, but I'm slightly disappointed that she's not sitting next to me.

Is that wrong?

Anko-sensei passes us blocks of clay for us to mold. I don't look up at anyone for the next 45 minutes or so and focus on my sculpture.

It ends up forming into a little girl. She has no face. I didn't have enough time to make anything else, so she's all alone.

Then again, aren't we all in the end?

* * *

**Wow. That took me a while to write. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Whew, I **_**finally **_**got it posted after…what? Two weeks? **

**Stay classy, world. Time to work on chapter two!**

_Catchingfireflies, out!_


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